The movement of the Count
My Vote / Buy My Vote group in many cases is to make sure the establishment
has more power than grassroots. It is my opinion watching them personally this last
month that Aaron Gabrielson wants to help both groups (establishment and grassroots) and James doesn't. Do we
really want to hack off a very vocal part of our party? For all the move
to be inclusive, the establishment wants more to participate as long as
they maintain the power. This is a bad direction to go.
Four years ago, I supported
Dave Hansen for state party chair and very actively helped his campaign because I believed we would have a divided
state party if the other candidates won and Dave would keep the party whole. I also supported Morgan Philpot at that
time because I believed he would help to make sure we didn't have a
divided party. In 2010 after watching Dave attend rallies and be supportive of those in the party wanting to push back against the Federal Government, I knew I made the correct choice. I have been on different sides than Dave on other races and other causes, but Utah was better because of his service. Dave was also fair to all the US Senate candidates in 2010. I watched other states such as Nevada react poorly to 2010 and it showed in 2012.
One of the reasons I ran to be a member of the state central committee was I felt like a large percentage of the committee was trying to shift the balance of power away from the state delegates and more to the state central committee and was amazed to watch the votes of the state central committee. I attended for a year before running to be a member. I do agree there needs to be a balance of power between the delegates and the state central committee. I have voted against changes I believed shifted the power to far either way.
I
voted for Thomas Wright for State Party Chair 2 years ago, despite concerns because I felt the
other choices would not help unify the party. This year I am supporting
Aaron Gabrielson
for similar reasons. I believe Aaron will keep the party whole and growing.
How
much did Aaron raise to help fight Matheson in 2008 and 2010? How much
has he raised to even run for this election. I am not worried about
Aaron's ability to raise money. More importantly to me was Aaron's ability to find 80 volunteers to help him fight to get good Republican's elected when he didn't have a title and he didn't have to do anything.
I am worried about the establishment
movement to crush grassroots. I believe Aaron will help unify. Remember that a large chunk of the funds Aaron raised for state raises in
2012 was to go to Rep. Kraig Powell, hardly a "TEA Party" favorite, but a good man representing his constituents and the Republican Party candidate.
For
the last week or two I have been also asking myself why LaVarr Webb who leads the powerful lobbyist and insider Exoro Group and also the Count
My Vote / Buy My My Vote group working to bypass the neighborhood election, caucus and convention system doesn't want Aaron to win ?
I believe we should improve, but not gut, our neighborhood election, caucus and convention system.
The Caucus System in Utah is the best way to make sure a grass roots
process can work over large amounts of money. It is the only way someone
with $100,000 can go against someone with $2,000,000 in election funds.
We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, wealthy or
famous. This is a good thing.
While all 3 candidates claim they are in favor of fighting to support and keep the caucus system, I do not believe we should do this by caving into their demands . Out of the 3 candidates, the one that has the Count My Vote / Buy My Vote group the most concerned is Aaron Gabrielson. He is also the one that has impressed me based on his actions and not just his words.
Aaron Gabrielson is also someone involved with social media, and didn't just sign up on Facebook this last month. He is relatively young and energetic. One of the major focus groups that the Republican Party needs to help understand the party are the young voters.
Join me in supporting Aaron Gabrielson for Utah State Republican Party Chair. Let's keep the party whole, add the younger voters and and let's fight to keep our neighborhood election, caucus and convention system.
